Market Segments

Agriculture

Seed production, seedling storage, dairy operations, farm stores, ripening rooms for fruits, vegetables, cheeses, floral etc. Often times these types of facilities involve special doors, humidity controls and temperature controls that are more likely to involve a combination of cooled and tempered space. They are often found in major distribution centers or ports of entry as well as industrial parks.

Foodservice

Restaurants, schools, hospitals, corrections, commissary, food pantry, etc.

Within each of these groups there are several key considerations which will determine how to build a walk-in. For instance, in pizza or baking applications it may be wise to consider features like low-velocity coils to prevent dough from being dried out. Or, in coolers where there are large volumes of produce being stored, it would be wise to consider coated coils and perhaps a painted finish to prevent premature wear or corrosion.

Boxes used in corrections are subject to a lot of wear and tear as a result of high volume (commonly servicing as many as 2000 people three times per day. There are many unique challenges and some great opportunities to reduce life cycle cost which is critical since these are non-revenue producing facilities. It would be wise to consider use of heat reclaim products as well as defrost controls among other things.

Manufacturing

Cold and controlled storage units such as walk-in coolers, freezers and clean rooms are found throughout the manufacturing world. Cleanrooms modular walk-in panels (or structural panels) lend themselves well to this type of construction as they are easy to assemble and are easily modified on site to accommodate conveyors, etc. It is very common to find combinations of cleanrooms and/or cold storage for films, chemicals, etc. Some common types of manufacturing facilities include: micro-electronics, semi-conductors, biotech, glass lamination, printing, photovoltaic, etc.

There are various classes of cleanrooms depending upon the amount of particulate that is required to be removed from the air. Other considerations are filters, air changes and humidity. It is wise to work with an experienced team when developing a cleanroom application.

Health Care

Walk-in coolers and freezers are increasingly used for a variety of healthcare applications. Common uses include: storage and distribution of medications, vaccines, blood, etc. Home health care is a growing market that has its own set of distribution challenges. Other areas include nutriceutical environments where goods are manufactured, packaged and stored for order fulfillment. This loosely coined term includes everything from beauty and skin care to vitamins and supplements. Cold and controlled storage enhances the shelf life of products.

Science

Aeronautics, military.

These are some common areas where we see walk-in coolers and freezers used for testing parts for planes, batteries and other sensitive equipment.

Walk-in coolers are often a key component in testing, toxicology, evidence preservation and even historical document preservation, commonly referred to as Archive Boxes